In Our Blood
by SignedSealedWritten
Summary: Cielo and Ray Lightwood are chased away from their home by a monster they didnt think existed. They're injured by it and wake up at Camp Half Blood. Who's the twin's parent, and why were they singled out by the monster? Read and review, t for safety!
1. Chapter 1

**In Our Blood**

**Chapter One**

"**Fireworks"**

**Author's Note: **

**SignedSealedWritten and MintMilano here. This is our first ever co-written fanfiction. Yes, to clear things up, we **_**are**_** brother and sister. No, we're not twins like Cielo and Ray, though I (Written) wish we were. I think that would be pretty awesome. ANYWAY, we're finally writing this thing, even if it did take us the entire summer to come up with. Mint, is there anything you want to say? **_**Hi, Percy Jackson fans! This is my first ever fan fiction! I'm helping out my sister here with this, so enjoy! And thanks to Written for teaching me what a Fan Fiction even is!!**_** Aw, you're welcome Mint! I'm pretty sure everyone skips over this thing anyway, so I'm going to just go ahead and start this thing. Enjoy. **

The clock struck twelve, ringing in the fourth of July. Fireworks boomed and cracked over the Long Island Sound, turning the living room of the Lightwood household different tints of purple, green, and blue.

"Happy birthday to us." Cielo Lightwood said to her twin brother Ray. Her face was cast in an odd shade of purple from the fireworks.

"Yeah, too bad our mother isn't here to see it." Ray said pessimistically.

"It's nothing new, Ray." Cielo said, sighing.

"Yes, you're right. She's forgotten other birthdays too."

"Ray, don't ruin this…" Cielo begged, even though she was mad at their mother as well for forgetting another birthday.

"I'm sorry." Ray said. "It's just… you know that she's on a date."

"So what?" Cielo said. She tugged on the end of her long dark brown braid. "I'm getting antsy. I have a present for you, but lets go watch the fireworks first."

Ray grinned, getting up off of the floor and going to the front lawn with his sister. She was two minutes and fifty three seconds his elder, and she liked to remind him of that fact constantly, even though Ray didn't really think those minutes could make a difference.

The siblings sat down on the front lawn, which was a sloping hill. Cielo hugged her knees to her chest and stared up at the sky, watching the fireworks boom over the Long Island Sound. That was one of the only good things about living in the very small house. The Sound was close by, and watching the fireworks over it had become a birthday tradition. Ray was laying on his back, his arms crossed behind 

his head. Whoever was putting on the fireworks had outdone themselves, he swore that he saw a purple firework in the shape of a smiley face.

The fireworks went on for quite some time, and eventually Cielo lay down on her back as well, her forearm touched Ray's.

They must have fallen asleep, for when a voice spoke out of the darkness, both of them jumped a mile in the air.

"Yo." The voice said, Cielo bolted to a sitting position as if she'd awoken from a bad dream. She squinted, in the darkness she could just make out the person who was talking. It was a boy, looking to be around seventeen or so, but she couldn't make out his face. It was sheathed in darkness.

Ray had sat up as well, they sat very close together, as if the two of them could make a bigger person together. "Can we help you?" They said at exactly the same time, something they did quite often.

The teenager grinned, but it wasn't a warm or happy smile, it was something sinister and ancient and evil. "Yes." He said. There was something very different, very wrong about his voice. It was hollow, metallic and tinny. "You could help me very greatly."

Cielo tapped her index finger twice on the pant leg closest to her brother, hardly moving at all, but Ray had caught the sign. Years ago, when their mother was still attentive, they used to put on shows for her that they'd made up. The sign she'd signaled had meant 'get ready, go', to start the show.

He immediately got his new meaning, get ready, and run. He signaled back, scratched his index finger against his thumb. It meant that he'd been ready to start the show.

"I'm sorry," Cielo said to the teenager, in what probably sounded sincere enough to anyone else, but Ray could hear the caution and apprehension lying just underneath. "We have to…"

At that moment, the teenager lunged at them, made a leap. In the same instant, they had both vaulted to their feet from the sitting position; the motion had been completely synchronized. They didn't have the time or attention to find it cool.

They ran towards the porch door, but the man was already in front of them, blocking their way. They spun on their heels, still moving in a completely synchronized pattern, in the opposite direction from the porch. They didn't have a clue where they were going. Their lungs screamed for oxygen and they seemed to have lost the ability to scream for help. There wouldn't have been anyone around to help them, anyway. Everyone was either away for the fourth of July, at the beach watching the fireworks, or sleeping in their beds, safe from the danger that was after the twins.

They ran past houses and down darker streets, where there were even fewer houses than on the street Cielo and Ray Lightwood lived on. Soon, there were no houses at all, just a forest on one side of a deserted gravel road, and a grassy lane, the Long Island Sound beyond it, on the other.

As they ran, they met each others eyes, speaking without words in the way that some twins seemed to be able to. Noticing for the first time that their movements were still synchronized, they smiled. It was, indeed, 'cool'. Time seemed to slow down. Each knew that they were going to die, but they were going to die together, so it was okay. They said goodbye with their eyes.

The thing chasing them (they'd long ago decided that it was not human. Nothing human ran with the funny, robotic steps of something, and nothing had the hollow red glow in his eyes that this man did,) never slowed down, but the Lightwoods did. Their steps became painful, they'd held out for longer then most kids would have already. The thing put _two_ arrows on a bow, and pulled back.

Cielo faltered in her step, and an odd thing happened. Her falter caused Ray to falter as well, which caused Cielo to look in wonder at him as they tried to continue running. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the thing pulling back the arrows.

"Ray, duck!" She yelled, and they both ducked. The arrows sailed over their head, buzzing in an odd way that no arrows at camp ever had. They hummed and buzzed until they stuck in two trees.

They kept running through the night.

The thing, however, was prepared. He was used to dealing with pesky half-bloods like the Lightwoods, and he'd brought more than two arrows to accomplish his task. He pulled back two more arrows, this time he would not fail.

The arrows hit their mark, and they both realized that the odd buzz had been from an even stranger poison.

Twin screams pierced the air as the Lightwood twins fell. One arrow had struck Cielo, in the upper arm, and the other had hit Ray, in the shoulder. They hit the ground and did not move again.

The thing advanced on his prey.

"No!"

**Author's Note:**

**Alright, thanks for sticking with us through the first chapter! The next few chapters are written, and we'll get them up as soon as we can, I promise. **

**If you want to take guesses at a) which god/goddess is their parent, and b) who just screamed 'no!', then PM us and let us know your guesses. If you get b) we'll mention you when we reveal it. If you get a), we'll also mention you when we reveal their lineage.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Cielo and Ray**

**(okay, okay. SignedSealedWritten and MintMilano. Sheesh)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

**Thanks to our reviewer! Sorry, but you didn't get the answer right for who finds them. That's okay though. We hope you enjoy this chapter anyway. If anybody else wants to, please guess who their parent is. We'll mention those who get it right when we reveal it. :D **

**Disclaimer: We don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan does. And he does an amazing job writing it. **

The monster growled, a sound of annoyance. It had been such a pity he had to destroy the two find half bloods, but he had orders. Its gleaming red eyes narrowed like a feral cat's seeing a neighborhood dog he wasn't quite fond of. "Artemis' Hunters are here to spoil my fun?" He sneered.

Up in the front line, one of the hunters laughed delightedly. "Oh, I didn't think you were capable of talking." She said in mock surprise. "This makes it so much more _fun_."

"Thalia," warned the Godess Artemis. "the half-bloods."

"Oh, yes," She said, and the front line pulled back their arrows, and let them spring.

They didn't fail. The arrows soared and hit the monster in his chest, shoulder, chest again and his collar bone with hollow pings and thuds.

He shrieked like a banshee, twitching as he fell. He hit the ground and dissolved with a metallic smelling poof, leaving only arrows lying on the ground. Thalia grinned.

They moved forward, crouching by the unconscious twins. Thalia looked at Ray first. "He's worse off." She stated. "The poison arrow hit him closer to his heart than the girl's did."

"If we get them to the Big House, they might have a chance." Artemis said. "We'll have to hurry. Marina, Dylan, would you take the boy please?" She instructed her hunters. They did as told carefully, carrying his slim form among the two of them, perfectly balanced.

"Thalia, will you be able to carry the girl? She's smaller." Thalia nodded and lifted her carefully.

The Hunters moved up Half Blood hill quickly, but not in a run. They seemed to move in one fuild movement, as if they were one, a single form and body.

"I believe they're twins, as well." Artemis said thoughtfully as they neared the top.

"But they're so different in size." Marina commented. "The boy is much taller than the girl. Surely he's older?"

"It's the way that they looked at each other when they got hit by the arrows, the way they moved together." Artemis was denied the chance to say more as Chiron and a group of campers, along with Mr. 

D, came hurdling forward, obviously disturbed from their normal camp activities by the sight of the procession of Hunters. Chiron stopped the group a foot from Artemis.

"Who are they?" Chiron said, already shouldering the weight of Ray, Thalia placing Cielo onto his back. He moved quickly towards the Big House, everyone following.

"We don't know, sir." Dylan said, brushing back her long red hair.

Artemis spoke. "They were being attacked by a monster, Chiron. My Hunters struck him down, but he'd already hit them with his poison arrows."

"They're half bloods, obviously." Thalia said. "Or else they wouldn't have held their own against him for so long."

Chiron stopped by the Big House, Dionysus took them off his back and brought them inside with help from a camper.

Chiron returned to wheel-chair form, and crossed the threshold. He turned back to the group. "Thank you, Artemis. You may stay, if you wish."

"While I appreciate your hospitality, my Hunters are needed elsewhere." She ushered her hunters out.

"Everyone else return to business," Chiron said. The group disported with a groan. "Percy, Annabeth, I'll need you to come with me." He headed for the twins without waiting for their response.


	3. Chapter 3

**In Our Blood**

**Author's Note: **

**We're sorry for being so annoying and not updating this story in such a long time! We both have AP work to do (meaning my brother and I) so we haven't gotten to write. Obviously, it's the 'sister' of the sibling group typing this. … is there even a such thing as skin of your teeth? I really don't know. **

**She'd like to dedicate this chapter to her brother. Her co-author. Who stole her phone charger and needs to give it back. –stares angrily- Nah, I'm kidding. Well, not about the phone charger. I /need/ that, thank you very much. But I'm dedicating this chapter to you because … well, that one part about the fifth grade person. Because its /epic, and we both know it. **

Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson followed the quickly disappearing Chiron intothe small room where the twin brother and sister were already situated in two beds, looking as if they'd narrowly escaped death – which, if you wanted to be frank, they had. By the skin of their teeth, actually.

"Chiron," Annabeth said as they followed anxiously into the room, her gray eyes settling on the half-bloods, "I don't understand. Obviously they're half bloods, but besides the condition that they are in . . . what is the concern about them? You can't think that they're…" The athletic blonde trailed off nervously.

"I don't know yet, Annabeth." Chiron said, his tired sigh filling the room. "I do have my suspicions. I'm wondering if this monster was operating under Luke's command." Annabeth's eyes traced over the twins carefully.

"Do you think that they're one of the big three, then?" Percy said, his eyes gone wide. He knew all too well what that would mean.

Chiron shook his head and sighed. "This is going to have to wait. We'll nurse them back to health first, and we'll find out when they awaken, I suppose. I just wish that we knew more about them . . . names would help. Ages, perhaps. It'll have to wait. I called the two of you up here because I will need someone to keep a close eye on them. Would you take shifts?"

Annabeth nodded, her eyes not leaving the pair. One could almost see the wheels churning in Percy Jackson's eyes as he opened his mouth to tell Chiron, "Sir – I believe that I _do_ have some information on them, in fact."

Annabeth finally spun from her watch on them, to face Percy, her eyes incredulous. "What do you _mean_, you have information, you seaweed brain?! We've been sitting here wondering and you're withholding info on them?"

"No, no, I just realized!" He confessed quickly. "I … I went to _school _with them, I think." He suddenly chuckled, at a long forgotten memory, perhaps.

"They live too far from you to have gone to the same school, Percy. From where they were found-"

"It was one my fourth school. I'd blown so many schools by fifth grade that I had to go pretty far from home. It's been awhile, obviously, but I'm 99 sure that they're Cielo and Ray Lightwood."

"H-how could you _remember_ them?!" Annabeth asked, bewildered.

Percy laughed again, at that long forgotten memory. "They were kind of hard to forget. I believe they were in … first grade... yes, first grade… when I knew them. It's a long story, but there was this bully in the fifth grade. He happened to pick on one of their friends, and the two of them stormed up to him like they were ten feet tall and had the muscles of body builders. They told him off like nobody's business… I believe Cielo may have slapped him. As I said, hard to forget. Everybody knew them that year."

Annabeth was grinning so wildly at the end of this story, trying to keep from laughing. "That's what that dude gets then." She said, brushing back her long curly blonde hair. "That's priceless."

Percy grinned.

Chiron couldn't help a small smile either. "I'd expect no less from half-bloods. So you'll stay with them then to watch, the both of you?"

They both nodded, committed to helping the kindergarten warriors.

"I'll send someone to relieve the both of you in a couple of hours. Until then, watch them carefully . . . if they show any … signs, of being-"

"Of the big three?"

"Yes… then please come to me immediately."

Chiron left then, leaving the halfbloods with the twins, Percy's mind going over long forgotten memories of the kids he'd known so long ago.

"Well, seaweed brain, we're going to be here for awhile… wanna play cards?"

**Author's Note:**

**I don't like the way that chapter ended, but oh well. There is a trailer for this fan fiction on youtube, you know. Go check it out, leave a comment!**


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note:

Most of you know by now that this story is written by my brother and I. We're so sorry about the long wait, we had Drama Club every day for the past three months, but the show is over now and we can update more frequently. Again, so sorry!

Who do we want to dedicate this chapter to? Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I think that the two of us want to dedicate it to our mother.

As Cielo slept, she dreamt of meeting a familiar stranger with eyes like beach glass.

Abruptly, it changed. She saw her brother Ray, fighting by her side for their lives. They fought the same monster that they'd fought earlier, only this time, they fought better.

The dream changed again. A misty shape hung in the air over her and Ray's heads.

Cielo woke up drenched in cold sweat, her dark brown hair coming lose from its braid and plastering to her face. She sat bolt upright, finding herself in an unfamiliar room.

A hand pressed her back to the bed. "Shh." A voice said. "Breathe." Cielo gasped in huge breaths.

She looked to her side to find the familiar stranger in her dreams. Dawn was peeking up, so the room was lightening. It was a nice room, bigger than the one she'd had at home …

"Where am I? What happened? Where's Ray?"

"Uh…" the boy looked to the door. "Chiron stepped out for a moment." He said, his voice low and unsure.

"Chiron?" Cielo asked, her brow furrowing.

"He'll explain things." He said. "Your brother will be fine, though. He should wake up soon." Indeed, Cielo realized that there was a ed next to hers, and Ray slept in it.

"He's okay?"

"Yeah, he should be."

Relief clouded Cielo's face for a moment. "Okay. Now, um, who the heck are you?"

"Percy Jackson, Son Of Poseidon."

"And I'm the daughter of Hades." She said, rolling her eyes. Sarcasm dripped like honey from her voice.

"Wait, really?"

"_No_. I'm the daughter of Marie Lightwood and a father who doesn't care enough to stick around." The sarcasm had turned into disgust. "What, just because I'm eleven years old you think that you can mess with me?"

"No, I'm sorry." Percy said, backtracking quickly. "I'll wait until Chiron comes back to explain."

Cielo crossed her arms over her chest angrily, only to find herself in an orange t-shirt with the words 'Camp Half Blood' on it. "How long have I been out?" She glared at him. "Who changed me?"

Percy shook his head, pressing his lips together. "Not me. Annabeth did. She's one of the campers here."

"And to answer your question, almost two days. Good morning, seaweed brain."

A blonde head poked around the doorway, her hair wavy and past her shoulders. She was tall, around five nine, and athletic. Her eyes were as gray as clouds full of rain.

"Morning?" Cielo asked, confusion clouding her tone.

"Yep. Around six am. I'm Annabeth, by the way."

"I figured as much. I'm Cielo. That's my twin brother Ray. I'm oldest." She added the last part with a certain amount of pride in her voice.

"We know." She said. "Percy was in your school for a year."

"I knew that you looked familiar!" She exclaimed. "Oh, didn't you get kicked out for setting the…"

"Yeah," Percy interrupted quickly, cutting her off. "That was me."

"Cool." Cielo said, her eyes grinning. She turned her head to her brother, still unconscious on the bed that was a few feet away. "When is he going to wake up?" She asked again, impatience and concern heavy in her voice.

"Soon." Annabeth answered reassuringly. "He was slightly worse off than you." She mentioned.

"That guy … we were chased." Cielo explained. "While watching fireworks." One could see that she was struggling to remember. "Wait – what about our mother?"

Annabeth smiled gently. "It's already been explained to her. You'll be straying here for awhile. We already have your things. Trust us; it's the safest place for you right now. For the both of you."

Cielo shifted on the bed. "I don't think that I understand." Cielo's voice was small.

Percy nodded. "It's hard." His eyes shifted to the door again, as if waiting for somebody.

"What's hard?"

Cielo's head whipped around to the voice of her brother, groggy still. "Ray!"

He nodded, pushing the palm of his hand against his eyes. "What happened?"

"Stuff." Cielo said, Percy and Annabeth couldn't help but laugh, but the laughter was cut off suddenly by a sound in the doorway. All eyes turned towards it.

"I think its time for an explanation." Said Chiron.

Author's Note:

The next chapter will be out sooner than this one, I promise!


	5. Chapter 5

In Our Blood

Author's Note: We're so sorry for the delay! We both had either AP exams, studying for AP exams, or other school work. Summer is on its way, and we promise not to be this late again, that wasn't nice on our part. Also, we promise not to have spoilers for the fifth book, so don't have them either! With that, let the chapter commence!

"My name is Chiron." The man in the doorway said. During a quick glance, the first thing that any one person would have noticed was that he was confined to a wheelchair; that he was an older man. However, Cielo and Ray tended to take in different types of details first. They didn't notice the exterior; they noticed what was inside of a person. It was what most people would call having a good sense of character, and that was what Cielo and Ray thought of it as, and nothing more. They sensed that this man had a great wisdom about him; that if you asked him something he would know the answer and tell you the god's honest truth. The wisdom resided in every crevice of his face and in his eyes, as well. Cielo was _almost_ sure that they could trust this man; after what they'd been through in the past few days, she wasn't sure who they could trust at all. Living with their mother, they'd learned to care for themselves early in life, they'd grown tough.

Cielo remembered the day that Percy had spoke about. While most of the school had thought that the boy they'd attacked had spoken ill of one of the twins, he'd actually made a slur about their mother. In his defense, he hadn't exactly known that the twins had taken two years of karate.

"Like the Greek horse… person." Ray finished lamely.

"Centaur." Cielo corrected. "I like your name."

Chiron smiled kindly. "There's a lot to explain, but the main thing that you need to know is that this is the safest place for you."

Ray's eyes were on Cielo, he'd only just woken up and had even less of a notion of where they were and what was going on than she did. "Why is there a safest place for us now? Are we in some kind of trouble?" His question was asked of his sister. "Was that guy the police, CiCi?"

Cielo shook her head. "It's not the police, it _wasn't_ the police rather. It chased us here." The rest of the room was silent while she filled her twin in on what she knew. "This is some sort of camp for some sort of kids – Camp Half Blood?"

"Yes, you've got it right, Cielo." Chiron said. Annabeth had perched herself on the window sill, and Percy was sitting on the nightstand. It went without saying that they were both remembering when _they'd_ arrived at Camp Half Blood, and of how they'd found out about their less than normal parenthood. "The fact is, that you arrived here just in time, merely by chance that you were chased to this location, and a lucky one at that."

"You keep saying were lucky for arriving here. I don't get why. Anywhere else where someone would have helped us… that guy wasn't _normal_ was he?" Ray said, remembering suddenly more of the chase. Cielo shook her head.

"Far from normal. You were chased by a mega-tron, a human soul inside of a metallic shell, virtually indestructible. It was another chance that the Huntress stopped him before you were taken down."

Cielo and Ray stared as if he'd spoken latin.

That was where Annabeth stuck in her two cents. "Do you guys believe in the Greek gods?"

"I've heard of them." Cielo answered for the both of them, a habit they'd gotten into when they'd realized that the both of them speaking at the same time was very confusing. "But what do you mean by _believe?_"

Their lives were about to be turned upside down, in ways that they couldn't imagine. Things would never be the same – between them, for them, or for anyone around them. And, for better or for worse, it had started now, and nobody was capable of stopping the domino effect.

"The Greek Gods that you know of-" Chiron started, "Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Apollo, Hera – any one of them that you can conjure up in your mind, are real. They exist today, moving with the western civilization-"

"We don't believe you." Ray spoke out, speaking for the both of them. "How are we supposed to believe-"

"something like that?" Cielo finished.

"Let us finish." Annabeth said. "I am Annabeth, daughter of Athena."

"Percy, son of Poseidon. We're half-bloods, half the child of a mortal and half the child of a god.

And Chiron – well, he doesn't just share the name."

"But how are we supposed to believe that?"

"And what does it have to do with Ray and I?"

"Focus on the water beside Cielo's bed." Percy said, and the twins focused on it quickly, both hesitant and eager to see what was going to happen.

With a small pop, the water exploded upwards.

"No-"

"Way."

"Yeah, well, I did say I was the son of Poseidon."

"I bet you surf well." Ray said suddenly, at which Percy burst out laughing. "I can't surf at all. Like, you don't even _know_. It's like the waves _want_ to eat me."

Cielo nodded. "It's true. I didn't even bother _trying_. But what does this half to do with us?"

"Cielo, Ray –" Chiron said. "You're halfbloods."


	6. Chapter 6

**In Our Blood**

**Author's Note: **

**I realize that we've been absolutely terrible at updating, and we're trying to work on that. On that note, we have summer now, and things should be easier on the updating end of things. The other thing is that we still don't want spoilers for the fifth book of Percy Jackson – we haven't gotten around to reading it due to school work. **

**Hey, trivia time – Cielo and Ray, do you guys remember what their birthday is? **

**That's right, July 4****th**** 1998! That means their birthday is this Saturday! Mint and I are going to celebrate. Join us if you may! **

"You…" Cielo paused, thinking for a moment. She didn't normally think before she leapt. She was the one to ask the questions, the more vocal and pushy of the two, but normally, whatever action she decided to focus on was the path she took, no matter what she found out by investigating and asking questions. It was Ray who benefited from her asking, who thought things through and stopped his twin before she leapt headfirst off of a cliff. This was what he did now.

"I'm thinking that you have the wrong twins." Ray said, nodding with his sentence to improve his certainty. "You should probably return us now, and find those twins that are in danger." He nodded again, just to be sure, and crossed his arms over his chest. There was no way that his sister and him were the twins that these people were talking about. Their life was less than ordinary. So what if they'd never met their father? So what if their mother couldn't remember that they even existed or had a birthday? Those things didn't matter. The father that was absent could in no way be an Olympian god, no matter how cool he thought that could be.

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea." Cielo added. "Those twins are probably in danger, right now." She paused. "Don't worry, we won't tell anybody about what you told us. Cross our hearts and swear to die, right Ray?"

"It's cross our hearts and hope to die. But yes." He turned and faced the three others in the room with determined eyes. "So if you don't mind, we'll be leaving now. C'mon, sis." He swung his feet over the bed, only to stop short suddenly. "Er."

"I wouldn't advise that just yet." The one called Annabeth said. "You're not exactly healed… hold on." She disappeared out the door, Cielo and Ray staring after her as if she'd grown ten heads and was talking with all of them at once. With what they'd seen already that day, it probably wouldn't have surprised them in the least.

"We're sure we don't have the wrong twins." Chiron answered, his eyes level and reassuring. "There's no chance that you would have crossed the boundary into this camp if you weren't half bloods." 

"But-" Cielo was saved from answering by the return of Annabeth, carrying two cups of something neither twin had seen before.

"This," Annabeth said, "is ambrosia, a drink of the gods. It'll return you to health more quickly. Just take a few sips, don't go drinking the whole thing." The blonde camper handed a cup to each of the twins, then returned to her prior sitting place on the window sill.

Cielo took a sip first, being the more adventurous of the two. She didn't know what in her right mind made her take a sip of the drink, but she did so anyway, swallowing a sip.

"What does it taste like, Ci?" Ray asked, his eyebrows raised as he looked at his sister curiously.

"She wouldn't be able to answer for you if she tried." Percy answered for him.

"It tastes like Mom's pancakes." Cielo said, nodding. "Definitely." She looked at Percy. "She stopped making them when we were six. That's when the boyfriends started."

Ray took a sip, squinting his eyes. "It does! Mom's pancakes, you're right!"

"There's _no_ way that-" Percy started, but Chiron asserted himself.

"They're twins, Percy, remember."

"I'm still not sure, and everything." Ray said, putting down the glass.

"Maybe we're starting to believe – but how do we know we're not on candid camera? How do you know _for sure_?" Cielo asked.

"I admit, normally we find half-bloods at their schools, and follow them for awhile to make sure they're who we think that they are. It's unusual for a half-blood to find us – but seeing that you saw the monster in the first place means you can see through the Mist."

"The Mist?" Ray asked, furrowing his brow.

"The Mist is a sort of shroud that doesn't let mortals see what's really going on." Percy explained. "That's why mortals see monsters roaming the streets."

"Well, I still think you have the wrong twins." Cielo said defiantly.

Percy shifted in his seat. "Do either of you have ADHD?"

"I… I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Do you?" He persisted.

"Well, _yeah_, but-"

"Dyslexia?"

"Yeah, that too. And it sucks." Ray butt in.

"But what's the _point_?" Cielo didn't like mentioning their learning disabilities.

"All half-bloods are dyslexic and have ADHD." Annabeth said, standing up from her window seat and pacing across the room. "Me, Percy – all of us."

"Really?" Ray asked, his interest piqued.

"Yeah." Percy said. "Our brains are hardwired for ancient Greek, and the whole attention thing is for battles."

"That – explains things." Cielo said. "But if we believe this, and I think I do– why now? Why on our eleventh birthdays?"

Chiron furrowed his brow, wise eyes on the ground. He raised them to the twins. There was something in them… "When were you born?"

Ray answered. "July 4th, near midnight. Cielo was born six minutes before me. 11:48 and 11:54. We always watched the fireworks on our lawn – that's where we were attacked." His eyes swung to the window. "By something." There was no mistaking the fear in his voice.

"It's gone." Percy assured him. Cielo and Ray let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Why did you ask for our birthdays?" Cielo said. She was the one who asked all the questions – teachers in school got fed up quickly. In fact, she'd been told to shut up by a teacher before.

"Half-bloods usually start attracting monsters around the age of eleven, sometimes earlier if they've got a highly powered parent. The oddity with the two of you was that you were attacked the moment you were eleven, as if someone were waiting."

"Great."

"That could mean a lot of things, which we'll deal with after a tour of the camp – and, if and when you get claimed."

"Claimed?" Echoed Cielo.

"Yeah – sort of like your Olympic father telling you you're his." Annabeth said, removing the cups from the twins. "Trust me, you guys – you're half bloods, there's no way around it."

"I guess…" Cielo said. "It explains some things. And I hate to say that it makes sense, but…"

Annabeth smiled.

"You said our Mom knows?" Ray asked, receiving nods in answer. "And she's okay with it?" More nods, and Ray looked towards his twin. "Then we're staying?"

She nodded without hesitation. "As long as we don't have to deal with anymore of those monsters… at least until we can wield a sword."

_Author's Note: _

_I don't necessarily like the way this chapter ended, and the next chapter's going to be a lot more interesting – and the chapters are going to come much more quickly, now that a few things have been sorted out between the two writers of this story. This story does take place after the fourth book, it's as if the fifth book hasn't happened – we haven't read the fifth book yet, remember, so no spoilers – and the war still hasn't started and stuff like that, though it will be mentioned. _

_Also, I'd like to say – we saw the trailer for the movie. Awesome, absolutely awesome. We want to go do that, by the way – ask the man in the empire state building for a key to mount Olympus. If, in fact, we happen to, we'll let you know. xD_


	7. Chapter 7

**In Our Blood**

"This is better than I imagined summer camp would be." Cielo mentioned, blue eyes fixed on the face of Annabeth Chase. She and camper Percy Jackson were giving a tour of the grounds to the twins, who took the camp in with wide, identical eyes.

"It's not exactly a _normal_ camp, though." Ray said, eyes sliding to his sister. "I mean, there's a _dragon_ guarding a hill." He tilted his head back in the direction of Half Blood Hill.

"Not your everyday guard dog." Cielo quipped.

The sky over Long Island was deep blue, hardly a cloud in sight, and a light breeze brushed over the camp. Beyond, the Long Island Sound twinkled like a blue-green blue jewel.

"We'll introduce you to some of the campers here." Annabeth said. "Since most of them have been asking about you for nearly three days." She rolled her stormy gray eyes.

"You're a bit famous," Percy said as the group of four head towards the horse shoe area of cabins. "Twins don't come crashing through here at one in the morning _every_ day."

"Oh, great, we always make an entrance, Ray."

"Or an exit." Percy said, referring to the school year he'd spent with them.

"Or that." Ray said, as they entered the horseshoe.

The day had already begun hours earlier – it was nearly noon. Campers swarmed from most cabins, heading in nearly every direction. To the twins, the twelve cabins seemed magnificent.

"The cabins," Annabeth said. "Each one is a shrine to one of the gods. You stay in the one of your parent." Her voice trailed off.

"For now," Percy continued for her. "You'll stay in the Hermes cabin." Neither half blood mentioned Luke. He quickly explained of why some of the cabins were empty, and of the upcoming prophecy most knew of. Their eyes widened considerably, but they were saved from answering by the appearance of a camper.

She was blonde, and probably about Percy's age, with a steady, stocky quality about her. If asked a single word to describe her, both twins would have answered _war_.

"Clarisse." She announced, sticking out her hand for them to shake, which they did, if not hesitantly. "Daughter of Ares, god of war. You're the wierdos that came crashing through here, yeah?"

"Clarisse." Percy said, angrily. The siblings met his eyes, perplexed at this bold camper.

"What? They _are_." She appraised them with a raised eyebrow. "You might be too tiny to be Ares kids, but you're young. I won't make any judgments yet."

"Good." Cielo said, trying to look bigger than she was. Blue eyes flashed. "Us either."

Ray set his jaw, leveling his eyes with her. Clarisse seemed slightly taken aback. Both siblings seemed to be standing defense o the other, not themselves – something Clarisse was barely used to. "I'm going to go train." She announced before heading off, orange shirt flashing in the sun.

"I don't have the best history with her." Percy said, watching her go.

"She's a daughter of war – how could anyone?" Ray asked, thoroughly confused.

"She's not so bad once you get to know her." Percy admitted, meeting Annabeth's eyes as they continued through the horseshoe. Percy reluctantly explained of the war taking place, and of the past years he'd been at camp.

"And we're thrown into the middle of it? That's not fair." Cielo said, thinking of the wars in history. "we didn't sign up for this."

"Nobody did." Percy said. "But you'll receive training."

"You can also leave, go back to the world, but it's not recommended." A camper said, carrying a large hammer over his right shoulder. "You're much safer here – besides, I've heard the two of you are naturals."

"Cielo, Ray, this is Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus. Beckendorf, this is Ray and Cielo, our newest half bloods."

"It's nice to meet the both of you." Charles said. He seemed to be slightly older than Percy, with muscles around is arms thick enough to scare a heavyweight. He also seemed to be in a bit of a rush. "I'm working here instead of the forges this week." He explained, motioning with his head to the hammer. "I'll see you around." With a nod, he head off.

"If you want, you guys can get settled in the Hermes cabin now. Everyone'll be out at the moment. Your stuff is already on the bunk bed." Annabeth said, gray eyes looking towards the cabin, overactive mind on Luke, one of the many campers who were missing.

"I call top bunk!" Cielo said, racing for the cabin, eyes wide and mouth set in a grin.

"Oh, no fair!" Ray complained, already resigned but setting after his sister never the less.

"They're going to be a handful." Annabeth said, turning to Percy after the twins had disappeared into the cabin. "But they handled Clarisse well."

Author's Note:

Well, this was a quick update. They'll meet more of the campers as we move along- thank you for all reviewing!


End file.
